Turkey

So much for the concept of starving college students. A group of engineering students from Turkey's Istanbul University has built one cool-looking electric vehicle that toured the country last month. The car, designed as a prototype for future versions, wasn't cheap, though, as more than $200,000 was sunk into it. Not exactly GM-splurges-on-the-Chevy-Volt numbers, but heady stuff for a college group. The car has a sleek look that may remind some of either General Motors' EV or the first incarnat

We have entered a drifting arms race. Last year, BMW smashed the Guinness World Record for the longest drift by hanging the tail out for 51.3 miles around a wet skid pad in an M5 at the BMW Performance Driving School in South Carolina. That beat the previous milestone of nearly seven miles. Now, Bimmer's record is up in smoke as well and is in the possession of a Toyota.

Carlos Ghosn sort of hinted that this day would come. And the Better Place bankruptcy didn't help either. For a variety of reasons, Renault has stopped making the Fluence Z.E. in Turkey. The car is still alive, but it's no longer Renault's flagship EV sedan.

Is it possible to cook a turkey with a Lamborghini Aventador? The answer is quite likely no, but it sure is fun to watch YouTube's supercar videographer extraordinaire Shmee150 give it a whirl. The supercar fanatic got a hold of an Aventador tuned by Oakley Design – and dressed up like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – to see if the car's two-foot exhaust flames could cook his Christmas turkey.

This motorcycle embraces two very different dynamics. On the one hand, it's quite possibly the most expensive motorcycle ever built, with some experts speculating that the frame alone is worth $1 million. On the other hand, it looks old and beaten up, like a steampunk MadMax.

In the "You Gotta Start Somewhere" Department, Turkish government officials are vowing to fund the development of Turkish-made electric vehicles in order to increase regional competitiveness within the alt-fuel world, Hurriyet Daily News says.

The next chapter in the Saab opera has a new protagonist called Brightwell Holdings, a Turkish private equity firm. Brightwell is is perhaps the unknown Turkish entity mentioned last year as having an interest in bankrupt Saab, along with India's Mahindra & Mahindra. A board member at Brightwell said the company will spend two weeks evaluating Saab's assets and then will make a bid, "there's no question."

The Great Saab Story of 2011 looks hellbent on running straight on through the new year and well into the future, despite the fact that the automaker has officially gone bankrupt and hasn't produced a vehicle in what seems like ages.

Like the wayward turkey seen here engaging in a bit of self-inspection courtesy of the Ford Motor Company, Thanksgiving is a time of reflection. Autoblog's staff has much to be thankful for this year, including an industry whose health is improving while developing better performing, more environmentally friendly cars each year. Simply put, cars are better than ever.

Formula One and Turkey are apparently on the splits, as Turkish newspaper Haberturk claims that the Turkish Grand Prix won't take place in 2012. Istanbul chamber of commerce chief Murat Yalcintas reportedly told the publication "It looks like the Formula One race won't be held in Istanbul next year." The reported reason for the decision was that Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone (above) raised the race fee from $13 million to $26 million; a price Istanbul doesn't appear eager to meet.

Etox, makers of the Zafer sportscar (pictured above), have announced plans to build an electric model. The Turkish company has said the first prototype will be finished in three months and could, when it's ready to hit showrooms, boast a pricetag as low as 30,000 to 35,000 lira ($19,020 to $22,140 at today's exchange rates).